Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (SportsNetwork.com) - Fred netted a first-half brace on Saturday as Fluminense continued a positive run of form with a comfortable 3-0 win over Palmeiras at the Maracana.
Coming off consecutive draws with Cruzeiro and Figueirense, the home side got off to a flying start as Fred opened the scoring after seven minutes and he then completed his double with a penalty kick conversion in the 35th minute to double the lead.
Fluminense continued to push forward on the attack and collected a third goal just past the hour mark through Dario Leonardo Conca to make it an insurmountable 3-0 lead.
Palmeiras had little answer and could not break down the Fluminense back line as the club suffered its 12th defeat of the season to remain in 16th place with 21 points.
Fluminense rose to fifth place in the table with the victory with 35 points.
Also in Brazil on Saturday, Douglas Ricardo Grolli hit for a pair of goals as Chapecoense claimed a 3-1 win over Sport Recife, while Lucas Lima and Robinho scored to lift Santos to a 2-1 win over Coritiba.
On Sunday, Kieza scored twice and Maximiliano Biancucchi added a third goal to lead Bahia to a 3-0 rout of Figueirense, while Wallace netted the only goal to hand Flamengo a 1-0 result against Corinthians.
Alex and Eduardo Sasha scored on either side of the intermission as Internacional came away with a 2-0 win over Botafogo, while league-leaders Cruzeiro fell to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Sao Paulo.
Marcelo and Hernani tallied to lift Atletico PR to a 2-0 win over Vitoria, while Luis Felipe netted in the 63rd minute to help Criciuma to a 1-0 win against Goias.
Sunday's final fixture saw Atletico Mineiro and Gremio play to a scoreless draw.
